Mornings Like This !

“If it excites me, there is a good chance it will make a good photograph.”
— Ansel Adams

I am a lightstalker.

Today morning I woke up and found myself staring at this beautiful window!

What a beautiful frame with ivy creepers and the right amount of gentle morning light streaming in through the open window. Whenever I see a sight like this the first thing I do is take out my camera and plan a shoot. It is mandatory I must capture the serene beauty of light somehow or other. Be it Food Photography or Nature Photography, what matters is Light.

 Today I wanted some pictures for my bookstagram. I picked my current read. ‘’ Zen  , The Art Of Simple Living by Shunmyo Masuno. I re read this book often. It would be a good idea to write a small review along with a pic.

I took a view of the beautiful frame once again. Arranged my camera and tripod to usual settings of 200, ½.8  and 1/80.  Light was so good casting soft shadows. I clicked a few shots by hand. The green ivy glowed in the background creating lovely bokeh with the soft light.

I kept my book on the windowsill. The scene looked just perfect. Now I need some simple props to enhance the mood. Choosing the right prop is most trickiest part and most confusing. I decided to go for a minimalistic frame with just a coffee mug as prop.

A cup of tea is made quickly. I took a sip of hot tea and placed the cup right beside the book.  I viewed the scene through my viewfinder. It looked amazing! The gentle light brought forth lovely smoke patterns and cast soft shadows on the book.

Good enough. One needs to be fast in the natural light photo shoot, otherwise, the light can either increase creating sharp shadows or light can dim making it difficult to shoot.

Light is also very important when we are including smoke in the composition. Smoke will not be visible without proper light.  The natural background was perfect and romantic. The frame looked like a library window set in some woods.

I pressed the shutter for some quick shots.  Checked the photos. They looked almost like a painting. Loving it!

Wait, Why not include me also in the frame? I set the camera on timer and sat near the window, relaxed and revealing myself partially to the camera.  As if I am about to lift the book and read.

All set, camera blinked  1…2…3. Yes, Now I am in the frame too.

Meanwhile, a good one hour passed and my tea went cold as usual. I am reheating the tea and getting back to editing my picture of the day.